Portside

• The Grift Is Deep  --  Cartoon by DC Cartoonist

• Re: Why Is Congress Silent on the Nightmare in Gaza?  (Velva Spriggs)

• This Is A Man-Made Famine  --  Cartoon by weirdmomart

• Re: Mahmoud Khalil's Letter From Jail to His Son  (Victor Grossman; Kathe Karlson)

• I Hate A Parade  --  Cartoon by Jack Ohman

• 30 Dolls  --  Cartoon by Rob Rogers

• Re: What Direction for Leo XIV and for the Catholic Church?  (Dan Morgan)

• Re: How Unions Can Protect Immigrants  (Joshua Barnett)

• Re: Democrats Learned To Love Class Dealignment  (Carl Davidson; Eleanor Roosevelt)

• Re: History Is Our Battleground  (Ed Delgado)

• Re: Center for Popular Democracy Launches Campaign To Protect 14th Amendment  (David Wilson)

• Year's Cost of Public Television  --  Cartoon by David Horsey

• President Trump - Plane & Simple  --  Cartoon by Dr. Keith Knight

• Conclave  --  Cartoon by Nick Anderson

.Shorts:

• A Look at the Qatari Lobby  (Caitlin Oprysko in Politico)

• Lord Buffalo  -  European Tour Cancelled - By ICE

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Resources:

• Resource: Data Center (Resistance) Organizing Guide  -  The Costs of Data Centers to Our Communities And How to Fight Back  (Kairos and MediaJustice)

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Announcements:

• Mass-Care Medicare for All Conference  --  Worcester  --  June 21  (Mass-Care)

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The Grift Is Deep  --  Cartoon by DC Cartoonist

DC Cartoonist
May 12, 2025
DC Cartoonist

Re: Why Is Congress Silent on the Nightmare in Gaza?
 

This is the clear genocide of a people as the world in its collective consciousness bears witness.  We in the US and those in Israel are the perpetrators, the worst of the witnesses, because we have funded this madness and collaborated militarily, financially, policywise, and in some cases, journalistically, in its justification. At times, I can not eat myself for the knowledge that I have that a whole nation is being deliberately starved to death.  Those American citizens and foreign nationals who have protested have been punished in myriad ways, jailed, and denied the Constitutional right of the freedom of speech.  

Have the Jews forgotten about their lives in the Nazi concentration camps?  When their mantra became, "Never again!." I guess they only were speaking of themselves.  To exact such extreme cruelty and degradation on others, denying them their humanity, is evidently ok. I heavily resent the collaboration of the American government in this genocide, this mass annulation of a people.  While Oct 7 was the date of the precipitating event (and I do not support those killings either by Hamas), it is evident that the trouble between these semitic peoples, started long ago with Israel's contemptible treatment of the Palestinians under a system of apartheid imposed by the Israelis and their other  forms of control and maltreatment. Neither history nor the universe will be tolerant of our role in this.  Does not America have enough to atone for already?

Velva Spriggs

This Is A Man-Made Famine  --  Cartoon by weirdmomart

This is a man-made famine. It’s forced starvation. Open the borders now and stop bombing starving people!
 

weirdmomart
May 10, 2025
weirdmomart

Re: Mahmoud Khalil's Letter From Jail to His Son 
 

Unspeakably horrible and heart-wrenching! How can millions of people see the pictures of fathers and mothers with tiny bodybags, of little girls with amputated legs, of the continuing devastation of Gaza - its homes, hospitals, schools, culture - even its streets and refugee tent colonies, with the denial of food, water, fuel, medicine, sanitation - and not recall Hiroshima-Nagasaki-Tokyo, Korea, Vietnam and yes, Warsaw and its ghetto? How many have asked over the decades: "How could the Germans have closed their eyes to Nazi terror against Jews?" and then close their eyes to what is happening today? Our hearts go out to the courageous ones who protest - especially at the universities - but so many more are needed - here in Germany as in the USA! And in Israel!

Hearty greetings - No pasarán!

Victor Grossman

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Love in the age of a terror supported and fed by the U.S. government!!!!

Kathe Karlson
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

I Hate A Parade  --  Cartoon by Jack Ohman

Jack Ohman
May 13, 2025
Jack Ohman’s You Betcha!

30 Dolls  --  Cartoon by Rob Rogers

Trump thinks his idiotic and chaotic tariffs are saving little girls from doll hoarding. Really?

Rob Rogers
May 9, 2025
TinyView

Re: What Direction for Leo XIV and for the Catholic Church?
 

Leo was mentored by Gustavo Gutiérrez, the leading Liberation Theologian in Perú, according to a contact. He has spent more time in Perú and elsewhere than in the USA. Leo XXIII defended workers' rights, and XXIV has said he will continue Francis's work. We can be hopeful.

Dan Morgan
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: How Unions Can Protect Immigrants
 

We need to, out of class solidarity and because immigrant workers and labor leaders were some of the strongest unionists who built the unions in the first place.

Joshua Barnett
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Democrats Learned To Love Class Dealignment
 

I largely agree with this. But I would warn against being too absolute. Here in my 'purple zone in Beaver County, PA, white workers split about 60/40 in favor of Trump. that a big problem. But don't dismiss the 40% who stuck with the Black voters, workers and others, and voted for Harris. They're my base to work with. They haven't disappeared. My neighbor, a construction worker who looks like everyone's pickup truck driving image of a MAGA guy, stops me on the street and ask, 'How are we going to get that Kluxer out of the White House?' He's Catholic and recalls how the Klan came after his dad for being a Catholic. And recall that the majority of white voters have been going for the GOP since LBJ. The main reason wasn't economic, but the perceived loss of ' white status' regarding the advances of people of color. That was Trump's snake oil, which he sold in 2024.

Carl Davidson
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

      =====

Trumpism is Clintonism's final legacy.

Eleanor Roosevelt
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: History Is Our Battleground
 

Nos pasarán !

Ed Delgado
Posted on Portside's Facebook page

Re: Center for Popular Democracy Launches Campaign To Protect 14th Amendment
 

Note the typo in this otherwise useful article: the 14 Amendment was ratified in 1868.

David Wilson

Year's Cost of Public Television  --  Cartoon by David Horsey

David Horsey
May 7, 2025
Syracuse.com

President Trump - Plane & Simple  --  Cartoon by Dr. Keith Knight

Dr. Keith Knight
May 16, 2025
The Keef Knight Project

Conclave  --  Cartoon by Nick Anderson

Maybe it should be a puff of orange smoke...

Nick Anderson
May 5, 2025
Pen Strokes

A Look at the Qatari Lobby
 

By Caitlin Oprysko, with help from Daniel Lippman

May 14, 2025
Politico
 

WHO’S ON QATAR’S PAYROLL: White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said this week there’s “absolutely nothing” Qatar might be expecting in return for the $400 million luxury jet it’s poised to gift President Donald Trump to use as Air Force One and then be transferred to his presidential library once he leaves office.

— But Qatar, where the president touched down today, has plenty at stake in Trump’s presidency. That’s especially true after his first term in office, when Trump declined to intervene in a diplomatic blockade against Qatar led by regional rivals Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Doha has also endured years of attacks from conservatives for serving as the home base of Hamas’ political leadership amid the war between Israel and Gaza.

— The Qatari government has built up an army of lobbyists and PR gurus in the U.S. in recent years in an effort to turn its reputation around. That group once even included Attorney General Pam Bondi, who signed off on the legality of Trump accepting the plane, triggering scrutiny from congressional Democrats.

— Doha has further supplemented its influence operation in recent months with allies of the president, according to a PI analysis of DOJ filings. The Qatari government currently has about three dozen lobbying and PR firms on its payroll, including Mercury Public Affairs, the former K Street home of White House chief of staff Susie Wiles (though Wiles herself never lobbied for Qatar). There are several former members of Congress on Qatar’s roster of lobbyists, too, including Republican Tom Davis, who’s now at Holland & Knight, and Democrat Jim Moran, who now runs his own lobbying firm. Other top K Street shops working for Qatar include BGR Group and Venable.

— Over the past year, Qatar has also paid GOP strategist Garrett Ventry more than $500,000 for work that has included highlighting Doha’s role as the chief mediator of ceasefires and hostage releases between Israel and Hamas, according to DOJ filings.

— In March, the Qatari Embassy inked a deal with Cornerstone Government Affairs. The team of lobbyists working on the account includes David Planning, a former special assistant to Trump, and Chris Hodgson, a former aide to former Vice President Mike Pence and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.

— The following month, the embassy hired a firm founded by former New York police chief Bernard Kerik, a Trump ally whom Trump pardoned at the end of his first term. The yearlong contract is worth nearly $1 million, according to a copy filed with the Justice Department, and stipulates that Kerik “shall be personally and substantially engaged in performance of the Services.” Trump announced plans to stop in Qatar during his Middle East swing weeks later.

Lord Buffalo  -  European Tour Cancelled - By ICE

UPDATE: Thank you for your outpouring of support it means the world to us. Our drummer has secured the legal representation he needs and we are waiting to hear what comes next. We want to reiterate that we truly don’t know what’s going on. We have more questions than answers, but we will keep you posted as much as we can. At this time the family asks for privacy as they navigate the situation. 
We are heartbroken to announce we have to cancel our upcoming European tour. Our drummer, who is a Mexican citizen and lawful permanent resident of the United States (green card holder) was forcibly removed from our flight to Europe by Customs and Border Patrol at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on Monday May 12. He has not been released, and we have been unable to contact him. We are currently working with an immigration lawyer to find out more information and to attempt to secure his release. We are devastated to cancel this tour, but we are focusing all of our energy and resources on Yamal’s safety and freedom. We are hopeful that this is a temporary setback and that it could be safe for us to reschedule this tour in the future. In our absence, our touring partners Orsak:Oslo will continue to perform the tour. We urge everyone to go see this amazing band and support them over the next couple weeks.

Blues Funeral Recordings

Resource: Data Center (Resistance) Organizing Guide  -  The Costs of Data Centers to Our Communities And How to Fight Back  (Kairos and MediaJustice)

You may have recently heard about data centers: huge warehouses of computer servers that are the physical infrastructure of our digital lives. Big Tech needs more and more data centers for its unending extraction schemes, particularly the rapid expansion of AI.

What you may not have heard about is how Big Tech is rapidly expanding its data center build-out by stealing critical resources and tax dollars from our communities—at no proven benefit for us

This guide includes:

• A comprehensive overview of data centers’ costs to our communities - from our health, to our wallets, to our air and water

• An analysis of who data centers benefit (spoiler: not us!)

• A call to action, including specific actions you can take to fight back

We believe data centers, as the physical infrastructure Big Tech requires to support its unending extraction schemes (including AI), are a critical site of contestation. We invite you to join us in building power, understanding, and organizing around data centers as a critical site of struggle. Please feel free to use and widely share this guide!

If you have any questions or ideas of how to fight back, please feel free to reach out to us at campaigns@kairosfellows.org and movementbuildingteam@mediajustice.org. For more info about national coordination efforts, please reach out to Vincent Acuña at vincent@powerswitchaction.org.

Data centers, Big Tech’s latest extraction scheme, are the physical manifestation of our digital activity: giant warehouses full of computer servers, chips, and equipment that power AI and other technologies. In the process, data centers consume immense amounts of electricity, water, and land.

Click here to read the organizer guide.

If you want to print this guide click here for a print version.

Mass-Care Medicare for All Conference  --  Worcester  --  June 21  (Mass-Care)

Saturday, June 21
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Clark University
Higgins University Center
950 Main Street
Worcester

Mass-Care is hosting a state-wide strategy and working conference on June 21 from 10am to 4pm at Clark University in Worcester  -  Medicare for All in Massachusetts: The Future is Now! 

We all know the health care crisis that exists in Massachusetts: already exorbitant insurance rates are soaring by an additional 12% this year, and the bankruptcy of Steward Hospitals has left minority and working class communities without access to hospitals.  Medicare for All is the only solution that will provide complete coverage to all Massachusetts residents and save money for all.

The core of the conference will be breakout sessions, by sector, throughout the day:  *Healthcare workers, *Labor unions, *Businesses, *Municipal and elected officials and *Community organizations and organizers

Each of these sectors have a unique relationship with the private health insurance system. Bringing those common experiences together will help define and carry out a stronger action-oriented organizational effort to enact Medicare for All, however we win it, through a legislative vote or by a binding referendum vote by the people. The breakout sessions are designed to build activism and deepen all aspects of the commitment and to embolden the movement for Medicare for All in MA.  

Registration includes morning beverages and pastries and a box lunch. This doesn’t completely cover the cost of the conference so extra donations are welcome. 

We hope you or your organization will join us as we collectively work to “up the ante” on our elected leaders to save our healthcare and enact Medicare for All in Massachusetts.

More information - click here

Tickets are non-refundable.